My week ahead - 1 - 7 July 2013

Monday 1 July – 4pm, Culture Portfolio meeting
6pm, Labour campaigning

Wednesday 3 July – 10am – Meeting residents at Dundee House
7pm – Ip-art, ‘Sherlock Holmes’ play, outside Christchurch Mansion

This week I missed the Full Council meeting as I was on the LGA Leadership Academy – Transforming the delivery of sport in local communities. Learnt plenty, the majority of the councillors were Conservative and it was surprise to see what little respect they have for Eric Pickles. His quick agreement with the Chancellor that means a £10 million cut to Local Government. Wonder what they think today when they hear Pickles department has been fined because of an illegal over draft!

What I did miss at council was Tory Cllr Cenci asking a couple of questions – a surprise as she has plenty to say on her blog about wind turbines but never then ask a question at Full council. But she did take to the floor (as did her partner) to ask question about the Ipswich Bus Service. As I was not present at the meeting I have had to gain my information from Ipswich Spy or two of the Tory blogs. Now Cllr Cenci informed us that she was inviting local residents to hear her question the portfolio holder on transport. She does not say how many turned up but on someone else’s blog she informs us not many as residents already knew the bus route was safe (they knew this thanks to Labour leaflets?) Cllr Cenci also copies a post from Ipswich spy but leaves out the last paragraph- I wonder why? She informed me that she also left out the first paragraph – but that is not the point – what she does miss out is the final summary on the questions >

Where Labour did score a big hit on the Tory position was by reminding people, courtesy of a Tory question, that the Tories had voted against last years budget, without which bus subsidies would be reliant on the county council, who had already indicated they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, afford to support the buses in Ipswich that IBC are currently subsidising. It the Tories had had their way last year, these buses would have stopped entirely come 20th July.

From reading that you would believe that Labour got the best of the questions, no wonder Cllr Cenci did not re-post this paragraph